The winner at The Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines, big-hitting Ludvig Åberg (+1600), joins McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama among the top choices at Bay Hill who have already won a Signature Event this year. Closing 65-64 for T5 at The Sentry in the first event of the season, the only force of nature to slow down the Swedish star was a malady he contracted at the Farmers Insurance Open (T42) and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (WD). Fully healthy, he was just one of two players to post double-digits under par at La Jolla. The Arnold Palmer Invitational was the first time he graced the top 25 at a PGA TOUR event. Mind you, he was a senior at Texas Tech and teeing it up for the fourth time in a TOUR event. The amateur did not take any money home from his T24 final position on the leaderboard, but later that year in September, he would win in Europe, followed by his first TOUR victory at The RSM Classic. Returning as a professional for the 2024 event, he cashed T25.